Apparently this happens quite often, due to all the fertilizers being flushed into the Gulf! I had no idea.
What's unusual about this one is that it's so many species.posted by CunningLinguist at 8:48 AM on September 16, 2010

I wish it were politically feasible to just leave the Gulf of Mexico alone for five years (aside from cleanup efforts). Just let it be. No drilling, no fishing, no shrimping, no nothing other than low-impact ecotourism and recreation. I realize this is is a fantasy, but it's so maddening to watch humans destroy such a vital organ of the biosphere.posted by Burhanistan at 8:56 AM on September 16, 2010 [8 favorites]

I'm sure Stephen Segal is going to fix this real soon. Look for some shit to blow up. There may be some blood contamination and a big oil spill when he blows up Michael Caine's rig, but hey, what's a Sherrif's Deputy from Plaquemines to do?posted by Ironmouth at 8:57 AM on September 16, 2010

If there were that many fish in that particular body of water NO WONDER they died of oxygen starvation!*

(*this message brought to you by BP, which had absolutely nothing to do with it, NOTHING)

The one thing BP hasn't done is say that they aren't supposed to pay claims. They are arguing with the other rig owners as to who did the real bad shit, and we'll see on that, but they pretty much admitted their fuckup part of it.*

*frankly, OK I wish they would stop admitting it. Everywhere you turn, those damned ads. Where's the money to pay the people supposed to come from?posted by Ironmouth at 8:58 AM on September 16, 2010

It's not clear from the article how much impact the Macondo oil spill had on this bayou. Fish kills happen periodically, as CunningLinguist pointed out, usually related to high levels of nitrogen being dumped into a body of water. It's possible that microbial action released nitrogen from oil present, and combined with other factors, pushed this particular area over the edge. I would hesitate to blame it directly on the spill though, at least until more is known about it.posted by Xoebe at 8:58 AM on September 16, 2010

My only response to this is a creeping feeling that we're all gonna have to learn to like fried crickets real soon.posted by The Whelk at 9:00 AM on September 16, 2010 [1 favorite]

"A whole mess of fish just up and died at Bayou Chaland in Louisiana. What you're looking at is a jambalaya of different kinds of lifeless fish, crabs, stingray and eel. You might think BP is to blame, but Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has a different suspect in mind.

Dead zones and fish kills are not uncommon in these parts, but fish kills with multiple different kinds of species rather just a single species are.

The parish initially lacked the resources to determine the cause of the fish kill, like whether it has anything to do with that BP black tea kettle boiling over a few months ago.

Now the Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has stepped up and said the real perp is low tide and high temperatures. They found nothing linking the dead fish with the Gulf Spill. The Daily Mail reports:

'Ms Watkins said low tide trapped fish in less than two feet of water. She added that hot water held less oxygen than cold, and heat also raised the metabolism - so plants and animals needed more oxygen to survive.

She said the area where the fish were found is bordered on one side by a rock dam, and a shallow outlet to the Gulf of Mexico on the other.

This is why I eat organic. No fertilizers in my food, please. (Yes, I'm aware that not all organic food is grown without fertilizers.)posted by stoneweaver at 9:15 AM on September 16, 2010

I wonder if there will be a corresponding die off of crows and seagulls in a year when they realize that they can't continue to maintain populations like they could back in late '10 when the dead fish stretched as far as they could see.posted by quin at 9:18 AM on September 16, 2010

My only response to this is a creeping feeling that we're all gonna have to learn to like fried crickets real soon.

I believe it was CBC that recently did a report on this, concluding farmed fish is the inevitable conclusion to the oceanic disaster we've caused.posted by five fresh fish at 9:47 AM on September 16, 2010

CBS, did you get the memo? It's not 1996... 240-pixel photojournalism spreads aren't cutting it. Do we need to send Boston.com down there to show you how it's done?posted by crapmatic at 9:58 AM on September 16, 2010

You know, if enough life dies like this, these fishkill "roads" will become actually walkable, and then we can all pretend to be Jesus.posted by davejay at 10:20 AM on September 16, 2010 [2 favorites]

Is this at all related to the growing population of oil devouring microbes in the gulf region? I would imagine they are quite the oxygen hogs.posted by TwelveTwo at 10:31 AM on September 16, 2010

You know, I started to type something about how outrageous it is that we hear new stories like this every damn day here in Louisiana, and people have just come to accept it as a part of life - but I'm really tired of being outraged. I just want some good news. Wake me up when the Saints win.posted by honeydew at 10:55 AM on September 16, 2010

In other news, BP announced today that it may have found a solution to the problem of Asian carp and other invasive species in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes.posted by bgrebs at 11:09 AM on September 16, 2010 [4 favorites]

Everybody needs to just calm down Obama's government has told us that all the oil is cleaned up and everything is ok. Just go about your business and everything will be fine. Ormabye not.posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 11:13 AM on September 16, 2010

Next time the Saints win, that is. (By which I mean Monday.)posted by honeydew at 11:32 AM on September 16, 2010

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